"the message to producers of skin contact white wines is that you risk serious consequences in describing your wines using the word "orange", unless the word is clearly being used to denote one of its common English meanings."

Contractors began work at Foley Family Wines in Marlborough yesterday to make way for a new bottling warehouse. Simcox Construction, in charge of earthworks, began clearing the Waihopai Valley Rd site in preparation for the new development. The new building would be able to store more than 1.6 million bottles of wine.

Rock Ferry Wines has been ordered to pay almost $10,000 to a cellar door employee who was unfairly dismissed. The Employment Relations Authority has ruled that Renwick woman Jan Rutherford was unjustifiably dismissed as a winery investigation was not done properly.

Winemaker Australian Vintage, whose brands include McGuigan, Passion Pop and Tempus Two, says the amount of grapes it crushed for the 2014 vintage fell by nearly a fifth as a result of frost late last year. And it expects the 2014 crush for the whole industry will be down on 2013 because of the damaging frost.

Wine lovers in the United States are drinking more New Zealand wines than ever, with double-digit annual percentage increases in the value of imports for the past five straight years. As demand increases, investors are also developing a taste for Kiwi wine. Recent acquisitions in the New Zealand wine market by two U.S.-based major players-Foley Family Wines and Terroir Selections-signal an increasing confidence in the wines' future.

The mainstays of the region's wine production are high-altitude, mineral-driven Malbec, and surprisingly approachable, soft-edged Tannat (a wine often with hard tannins), both showing promise as foils to Mendoza's warmer, riper styles. The third, but perhaps most important grape, is a white variety called Torrontés.

Cool conditions during flowering at the end of last year resulted in poor fruit set. Australian Vintage viticulturist Murray Leake says it's disappointing that yields are so low. "Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio on average have all been about 50 per cent down.

Residents in the Perth's south and eastern suburbs are being urged to keep an eye out for European wasps which have established a presence in the area this year. Eight of the 49 European wasp nests destroyed by the Department of Agriculture and Food this year were located around Kelmscott and Mt Nasura, Department senior technical officer Marc Widmer said.

Accolade Wines has finalized the purchase of a suite of award-winning New Zealand wine brands including Mud House and Waipara Hills, and their assets, from the Mud House Wine Group. In addition, the deal, initially announced last November, will see Accolade add the Dusky Sounds, Haymaker and Skyleaf brands to its extensive portfolio of New World wine brands.

Online-only wine retailer Rewined www.rewined.co.nz predicts that the New Zealand online wine market will account for 15% of total retail sales completed online by 2018. This is based on the rise in the industry sector in the past two years and international trends.

Vineyards that have been on the market for years are starting to sell as buyers gain confidence in the wine industry again, Marlborough real estate agents say. Bayleys Marlborough agent Tim Crawford said the company had sold 12 vineyards in the past year.